


The Best Song Wasn’t The Single

by nemuitaiga



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Boys Are Dumb, M/M, Modern AU, aokaga - Freeform, some kikuro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 16:17:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nemuitaiga/pseuds/nemuitaiga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of him still hopes that this is all a dream: that he’ll wake up to find that he’s back in school, playing basketball with Himuro, and the only thing he has to worry about is trying out for the NBA instead of marrying some guy he hasn’t even met yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the arranged marriage prompt on the kurobas tumblr meme "Kagami and Aomine thrown into an arranged marriage. They clearly hate the idea at first but grow to see that it has its perks." The title is a lyric from Frank Ocean’s “Sweet Life”.

“ _Arranged marriage?!?_ ”

Kagami stares at his mother who looks visibly uncomfortable at his outburst. Across the table, the marriage broker, a stern-looking and well-dressed lady with her hair tightly tied up in a bun, frowns at the interruption.

The broker clears her throat, before speaking in a dry, dispassionate voice.

“I’m afraid this is part of the contract signed by your father before he left for America. In order to fund his studies, the Tsuyosa Clan agreed that they would pay for everything. In return, his firstborn would be bonded with one of firstborns in the clan’s families.” She taps her well-manicured nails against the official document that she’s laid out on the table. The words are printed out in Japanese, which makes it harder for Kagami to read (it’s not his fault he keeps getting his _hiragana_ and _katakana_ mixed up sometimes) but he manages to translate the words “marriage” and “first child”.

In the dotted line at the bottom, Kagami can see his father’s signature, cruelly marking the rest of Kagami’s future.

He really hates his life sometimes.

“This is crazy. I’m only sixteen!” he points out. “How am I supposed to be marrying someone when I’m still in school?”

“Oh, they’re not expecting you to get married _right away_. The Patriarch of Tsuyosa is keen on having a first meeting between the families before the dates are finalized,” the broker’s assistant jumps in eagerly. The broker turns to glare at him for the interruption and the assistant lets out a tiny squeak, pushing his horn-rimmed glasses back up his nose nervously.

The broker turns back to face Kagami. “Your father will be back tomorrow from New York, but he has expressed his desire for you to leave for Japan by next week.”

“Next week?” Kagami thinks of his best friend, Himuro, and how utterly pissed he’s going to be when he finds out that Kagami won’t be here for summer break.They’ve made _plans_ , for crying out loud. There’s basketball and camping trips, smuggling booze up to the Grand Canyon and a whole weekend at Flagstaff--

Basketball. Oh, crap.

Himuro is going to _kill_ him for missing the street games tournament.

Even worse, what will he say when he hears that Kagami’s getting married?

“Why can’t _they_ come here? Why do we even need to go to Japan?”

“Taiga, you know your father would not be asking you to do this if it was not important to our family,” his mother tells him gently. “The Tsuyosa Clan have taken care of us all these years. It would be dishonorable to go against a promise made to them.”

Kagami wants to bury his face in his hands. And maybe scream, just a little.

The whole concept of Japanese honour is something his mother takes very seriously. Kagami doesn’t want to disappoint her, but he doesn’t know if he can muster enough of his “honour” to go through a marriage with a perfect stranger.

A horrible thought occurs to him. Kagami’s never been comfortable around girls, except for Alex, but she’s his coach and that totally doesn’t count. The last time he had tried to talk to Sharon Lenton in his Spanish class, he had just rambled on about basketball while she gave him a bored look. “I’ve never,” he pauses, blushing, hating to admit that perhaps he’s not as smooth with girls as the other guys in his class are, “I mean, I’ve never had a girlfriend.” He considers crawling into a hole and dying from the shame and embarrassment. “What if I don’t get along with this girl?”

The marriage broker and her assistant trade startled looks, as the assistant mouths silently, _Girl?_.

“Ah,” the broker says, her steely confident manner replaced by hesitation for the first time, “your intended won’t actually be one of the daughters. You’ll be marrying the Patriarch’s eldest grandson, Aomine Daiki.”

Silence.

“ _I’m marrying a guy_?!?”

****

* * *

_818-949-0776 : bro, i need to talk to you_

_818-949-6270 : lemme sleep it’s sunday_

_818-949-0776 : no you have to wake up_

_818-949-0776 : my life is over_

_818-949-0776 : wake uppppp_

_818-949-6270 : ugh fine whre r u_

_818-949-0776 : rec center_

_818-949-6270 : k, be there in 20_

****

* * *

Sighing, Kagami closes his cell and pockets it. Himuro has been his best friend ever since the third grade, when Kagami and his mother had moved to the States from Japan because Kagami’s father had wanted them close by. Being the only Japanese kids in the neighbourhood, they had stuck to each other, later bonding over basketball. They’d been inseparable ever since.

Until now. In less than a week, Kagami was going to be thousands and thousands (or was it hundreds? Not that he counted) of miles away from his best friend and it would be the first summer ever that they won’t be hanging out together.

Nearby, a radio is playing, and Frank Ocean is singing about the sweet life, about living the single life, staying away from serious commitments, about staying ignorant of the harsh realities of life. Kagami thinks about the plans that he’s made with Himuro once after they’ve graduated: getting into college on a basketball scholarship, making it into the all-State team, or maybe, just maybe, the NBA.

Now he’s never going to get the chance.

Since the news was delivered to him of his future, Kagami has been hiding out here at the recreation centre, shooting hoops. It’s still early in the day, but he knows that in the next hour or so, the court will be filled up with other players.

He just needs some time to himself to think over everything that he’s been told, and how he’s going to break the news to his friends.

Especially to Himuro.

****

* * *

“Marriage?” Himuro asks incredulously.

Kagami sighs. “Yeah. My old man made this deal way before I was even born. Who even _does_ these kind of things anymore? Arranged marriages sounded so... old-fashioned.” He twirls the ball on his forefinger absently. “I mean, it’s the 21st century! They have match.com! Why does anyone need to be fixed up for marriage anymore?” He probably sounds whiny at this point, but he really doesn’t care.

“When do you... urm... when are you supposed to be married?” Himuro asks.

Kagami shrugs. “We’re supposed to meet up with the family and talk, I guess. But I haven’t really told you the second news yet,” he adds, grimacing.

Himuro eyes him suspiciously. “Taiga, what could be worse at this point?”

Taking a deep breath, Kagami answers,”The person I’m supposed to marry. It’s a guy.”

Himuro stares at him. The silence drags on, as moments stretch to seconds, before he finally speaks. “You’re marrying... a guy,” he says slowly. “Taiga, are you even gay?”

“What?!” Kagami asks, dumbfounded at the question. Himuro’s head is tilted to the side, studying him curiously.

“Well, you’ve never had a girlfriend, or really talked about any girls... “ Himuro’s voice trails off, just as Kagami throws the ball at him. “Ow, what the fuck, Taiga!” He glares at Kagami, rubbing his chest where the ball bounced onto.

“Not dating girls doesn’t make me gay, Tatsuya!” Kagami shouts defensively.

“I’m just saying, okay? You call me over, tell me that you’re getting married, and then you tell me you’re _marrying a guy_. I mean, what am I supposed to think?” Himuro yells back.

“There’s nothing wrong with a guy marrying a guy,” Kagami shoots back. He’s been doing a lot of reading on the topic of gay marriages and he finds that he’s pretty open about it. “It’s just... I’ve never... I mean...” his voice trails off as he reconsiders Himuro’s viewpoint.

Kagami knows that most girls don’t attract his attention, but it’s not like he’s actually _looked_ at a guy and gone, hey, right, he’s hot. He’s just always thought that he was pretty straight.

Kagami lets out a resigned sigh, and runs his fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry.” He doesn’t want to fight with Himuro. He doesn’t want to leave at the end of the week, for the entire summer, with his best friend still mad at him. “I just... this isn’t easy for me either. I’m confused by all of this.”

Himuro studies the ground, quiet, as Kagami shuffles his feet uneasily. Just as Kagami’s about to give up and leave, Himuro walks over to pick up the basketball that had rolled several feet away. He straightens up, and looks over at Kagami.

“You know I’ll always have your back, bro. No matter what,” he says, and throws the ball at Kagami, who catches it easily. “Let’s just play some basketball first, and then we can talk more about how I’m going to be your best man at the wedding.”

Kagami grins, relieved. He even graciously lets Himuro take the first shot, before beating his score shortly after.

****

* * *

That night, dinner is awkward as Kagami’s father furiously reveals that he had been left in the dark over the choice Kagami’s future “bride” (Like everyone else, he had assumed that Kagami would be marrying one of the daughters from the clan). He had tried to speak to his lawyers about it who had in turn told him that the clauses he had agreed to made the contract legal and binding.

Backing out now would mean the elder Kagami would have to hand over his entire life’s savings and possessions to make up for the costs spent by Tsuyosa on him over the years. The Patriach is an influential man, his clan closely tied to Kagami’s family for centuries since the Yamato period, so Kagami’s father has no choice but to relent.

And then, there’s also the danger in being painted as a homophobe. For all of the clan’s strict adherence to their customs and rules, they’re a progressive clan that’s politically tied to the current ruling government. From what Kagami has read, they were successful in their recent campaign to allow LGBT unions and marriages to be recognized in Japan.

Kagami, however, is mad at his father for not telling him about this earlier. He had to find out from a _marriage broker_ , of all people. It’s times like these that he hates his father’s job, because he’s never around enough to spend time with Kagami, to just talk to his own son. The hardest had been when his father had missed Kagami’s last few games and all the winning shots he had made for their school.

At school the next day, Himuro doesn’t say a word to anyone else about Kagami’s news, for which Kagami is grateful. A few of his schoolmates briefly ask about his plans for the summer break, especially the guys in his basketball team who’ll be playing in the tournament.

Kagami tells them the truth, of course. He ruefully informs them that he’s heading back to Japan for the next three months. He just doesn’t say _why_.

A week later, he’s on the flight to Japan. The entire trip is long and spent mostly in silence, except to mumble answers to random questions from his mother now and then. For most of the trip, Kagami sticks his headphones in his ears and buries his nose in his basketball magazines, dreading every mile that brings them nearer to their destination.

It’s been eight years since he’s been back in Japan, and everything looks... different. The air smells different, sharper, lighter, and the background noise of everyone speaking in Japanese throws him off. He forgets that they drive on the left side instead of the right and freaks out for a second during the ride from the airport. He’s also reminded by his mother several times to bow and address the people, especially his elders, politely.

It’s weird, seeing that he _was_ born in Japan, and had lived here for a good eight years, but it’s been so long and his experience in the States has overshadowed most of his memories here.

The house they’re renting is situated in the middle of a quiet neighbourhood, near enough to a few shops and amenities. The minute they’re unpacked, his mother’s old friends drop by for a visit, cooing over how fast Kagami has grown up, how tall he is now and _oh, don’t you remember how he used to run around the house naked as a little kid_ , at which Kagami hurriedly mumbles his excuses and flees.

He walks around the neighbourhood and explores it for an hour, until he ends up at what looks like an outdoor basketball court. There are a few players there, still in their school uniforms, and Kagami stares at them curiously until he remembers that their summer break doesn’t begin for at least another month or so, which explains their outfits.

Kagami snorts quietly to himself when one of them fumbles an easy shot and ends up chasing after it comically.

One of the other boys scoops it up and immediately dribbles it towards the other side of the court. The others try to stop him but he slips past the defence and manages to score a shot, sending the ball soaring through the air into the hoop.

Kagami is struck by how easily the guy had thrown the ball into the hoop, the languid way he had moved after that, as if he had been confident that the ball would enter. He’s seen this sort of swagger and style, every time he, Himuro and another friend play roughhouse with a couple of older players in their neighbourhood.

 _Freestyle_ street basketball, where no rules applied.

Kagami feels a sudden flush of excitement. Apart from Himuro, no one else has come close stirring his interest, with him wanting to challenge them to a game. He takes in the guy’s swagger as he turns to walk away from the hoop, and makes up his mind, his feet moving and bringing him into the court.

The ball is still rolling on the ground after that shot. Kagami stops it with his sneakers, bending over to pick it up. With the ball in his hands, he feels almost relieved by the familiar weight and texture. With all the packing up they’ve been doing, the nervousness and worry over having to meet the Tsuyosa Clan in a few days and meet his future husband for the first time, he hasn’t had the time to play any basketball since his session with Himuro last Sunday.

“Oi, give that back.” Kagami looks up to see that the boy, who had scored the shot earlier, now approaching him. “This place is for basketball players only.”

Kagami narrows his eyes, and his temper flares up. “I could probably take you on, moron,” he shoots back. “Don’t act like you own this place.”

Blue eyes flash back in anger and the boy takes a few steps closer. At this distance, Kagami notices that the boy is slightly taller than him. His hair is a dark shade of blue instead of black as he had assumed before, and he’s more tanned than the other boys.

“You think you can beat me?”

Kagami twirls the ball on his finger, smirking. He knows that he’s showing off, but the boy’s arrogance is pissing him off. He knows that he’s better.

“Easily,” Kagami challenges. The boy tilts his head to one side, observing him, before a smirk slowly spreads across his face.

“One-on-one then. Best of five,” he answers, before adding smugly, “I’ll even let you take the first shot.”

Kagami can’t wait to wipe that smug look of the boy’s face.

****

* * *

The first shot goes to the boy. Kagami has the ball in his hand and he’s about to jump, to slam the ball into the hoop when suddenly a hand shoots out from his right side, smacking the ball away from him.

He lands just in time to see the boy swing round with the ball before twisting his body upwards, dunking and winning the first score.

Kagami is furious, and rides on his rage to steal past the boy and pull off a slam dunk, this time successfully, before the other boy can catch up. However, his luck runs out as he watches in dismay while the boy feints past him twice to add the second and third score to his tally, effectively winning over Kagami.

He’s breathing hard, cursing himself. It’s impossible; how did the boy move so fast? Kagami had been watching him, had been ready for him, making sure that he couldn’t have gone past.

Yet, the boy had succeeded, and won.

“Is that all you had?” the boy asks condescendingly. “That was boring, to be honest. I thought you were going to be entertaining. Or least give me a challenge.”

“I can beat you again-” Kagami snaps, but before he can continue speaking, the boy leans closer towards him, his gaze dark and intense as he speaks.

“No one can be stronger than me. Don’t waste my time.”

Kagami’s jaw drops open at this, this... utter _arrogance_. No one can be stronger than him? What the fuck did he even mean?

The boy throws him one last smirk, before heading off with his friends, while leaving Kagami standing there speechless and defeated.

****

* * *

“Stop fidgeting,” Kagami’s mother chides him, swatting his arm away as he tries to reach a spot behind his neck that’s starting to itch.

“I’m not - Mom, can’t I just wear my normal clothes?” Kagami lifts his arm and looks at the huge sleeve in distaste, “I feel like I’m wearing a bathrobe.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Taiga. The Patriarch and all the other family members will be dressed the same way,” she says, straightening the _obi_ , as if to ensure that it’s tight enough. “Your own father even wore one when we were married, and he looked very handsome then.”

“But I’m not getting married yet,” Kagami protests. “I don’t want to impress this guy.”He winces a little at the words. Part of him still hopes that this is all a dream: that he’ll wake up to find that he’s back in school, playing basketball with Himuro, and the only thing he has to worry about is trying out for the NBA instead of marrying some guy he hasn’t even met yet.

His mother ignores this, and takes a step back to survey her handiwork. Her face softens a little. “You look almost like your father back then,” she says, smiling. Her voice is gentle, quiet as she recounts the memory. “The first time I met him, I thought he was the most handsome boy I had ever seen.” She lifts Kagami’s hands, covering them with hers and looks him in the eye. “Taiga, I know you’re scared and uncertain. We should have told-- _I_ should have said something to you to prepare you for this. The decision your father made was necessary, but it was unfair of us to keep the truth away from you.”

“Mom-” Kagami feels embarrassed. His mother almost _never_ admits to his father’s mistakes.

She continues on, as if he hadn’t interrupted her. “You will make us proud, Taiga,” she adds, and hugs him tightly.

Kagami swallows the lump in his throat as he clings to his mother, feeling like he’s five years old again, sheltered and protected from the worries of the world. When she finally pulls back, looking at him, her eyes bright with tears, he feels slightly ashamed for even making her emotional.

But he’s ready now. He’ll go out there, he’ll face the Patriarch, the elder clan members and pay his respects. He’ll look at this Aomine Daiki in the eye, size him up, and see how this guy he’s meant to spend the rest of his life with will measure up to being with him, Kagami Taiga.

****

* * *

Of course, as Murphy’s Law clearly dictates: if anything can go wrong, it will.

“What the hell,” swears the familiar looking dark-haired boy who’s seated next to the old Patriarch.

The room erupts in shocked gasps and hushed whispers.

Kagami’s jaw drops open.

Aomine Daiki, the Patriarch’s eldest grandson whom Kagami is meant to marry, is the same guy that thrashed him at basketball a few days ago.

That guy.

His future husband.

A pained expression crosses the Patriarch’s face.

“Ojii-san, I can’t marry him!” Aomine says desperately to his grandfather, just as the elderly man next to him grumbles, “ _Oyamaa_ , here we go again.”

“Enough, you are embarrassing our family,” a stern-looking woman chastises Aomine. He opens his mouth as if to protest again and she cuts him off before he can say anything else, “Remember your manners.”

“But Oba-san--”

She fixes him with a _look_ , and Aomine shuts up, his jaw tightening as he turns back to face Kagami.

Kagami smirks at him, feeling a sense of satisfaction at watching him being taken down publicly.

Aomine glowers right back.

“Perhaps we should proceed?” the stern-looking woman gestures with her hand at the marriage broker. The broker, whom Kagami remembers from L.A., nods, and continues on with rest of the introduction ceremony.

As her voice drones on, Kagami can’t help but wonder: how is he going to get out of this mess?


	2. Chapter 2

Once the apologies are hastily made and several more icy looks are sent towards Aomine’s direction - courtesy of his aunt - everyone else in the room calms down enough to continue on with the introduction ceremony.

While his grandfather nods away at everything that is being said by the boy’s parents, Aomine takes this opportunity to properly study Kagami Taiga.

Dressed in a traditional kimono for men instead of the sweatshirt and shorts that Aomine had remembered him wearing, Kagami looks… different. It’s not just the outfit, Aomine thinks, but his demeanour. Forced to keep silent throughout the conversation, while his parents talk about the weather, Kagami’s no longer the loud-mouth obnoxious asshole who had challenged Aomine at the basketball court, but a serious, more subdued version of himself. Aomine wonders if _this_ is his true self, and the arrogance he had encountered on the court was just a front.

His preconceptions are, however, stomped on when Kagami catches sight of Aomine staring at him. Aomine notices that his eyes match the red in his hair, (his hair is streaked with black, which reminds Aomine of a tiger’s stripes, much to his amusement), flashing angrily as he shoots Aomine an irritated look.

Aomine puts on a mask of disdain, just to annoy him.

Kagami’s face turns red with fury. “ _Will you quit staring at me_?” he snaps, reverting to English.

“Taiga!” His mother looks horrified at the outburst as his father begins to apologize profusely to Aomine’s grandfather for the interruption, forcing Kagami to follow suit, if perhaps less graciously than his father does.

Aomine’s grandfather cheerfully waves the incident off. “Ah, these young men. I remember when I was of that age...” he rambles on, until Aomine’s aunt subtly steers the conversation back towards the topic at hand.

The rest of the ceremony continues on as Aomine entertains himself by sneaking glances at Kagami’s sulking face, gloating inwardly at his misery.

The storm begins after the ceremony ends. Aomine finds himself being banished to the awaiting family car immediately.

“Not another word,” his aunt snaps at him when she gets into the car. She then proceeds to lecture him for a full hour about manners and the family name and other things which he doesn’t really care about.

“Oba-san,” he finally cuts in, ignoring her look of annoyance at the interruption, “I agreed to come to the ceremony and meet the guy.” He leans back against the seat, yawning as the car passes out of the city area, heading towards to his place. “Anyway, it’s not like it’s important or anything. Aki can marry him instead.” Aki is his third cousin, and gay, unlike Aomine, who’s pretty certain of his own preference for boobs over dicks.

“The agreement states that the _eldest_ child in the family must marry. _Our_ family. Akihiro’s parents are from your father’s side, and carries no ties to the Tsuyosa.” Any mention of Aomine’s father is a sore point for his aunt, who hates him even though he had been gone for years. She still blames him for marrying her sister, Aomine’s mother, and almost ruining the clan’s reputation.

“It’s not like anyone even _asked_ me what I wanted--”

His aunt gives him an icy look. “We have _discussed_ this. Your grandfather is your guardian, and he still has the right to select who you will be marrying. That gives you no right be rude to him or his guests!”

“But... Oba-san, that guy... he doesn’t even _look_ happy to be here,” Aomine points out. If Kagami isn’t thrilled at the idea either, maybe Aomine could use that to convince his grandfather to drop the idea.

“The boy’s parents are pleased to have their family tied to our clan, even if it is through your bloodline. They have informed us that he will be proceeding with the arrangements. Their son, at least, understands the meaning of familial _honor_.”

Aomine makes a face. “He looks like such a _loser_ ” his voice trails off as he considers the thought for a moment, of leaning in to plant his lips on Kagami....

Yeah, _no_.

And then there was that other thing.

“I’m not having sex with him,” he declares.

His aunt raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Uh,” he begins, awkward, “I’m not going to sleep with him?” Her eyebrow arches higher. “Well, I’m supposed to marry him, right? So, all the other stuff, I’m not doing it. With him, no--”

“You are not expected to have any romantic ties to the boy,” his aunt tells him flatly. “This is a marriage of _convenience_ , nothing more. The boy’s family is indebted to our clan at the moment. Their only options are between paying back their debt, or fulfilling the rest of the contract by having the boy marry you.”

Aomine stares at his aunt. This is complete news to him. He doesn’t recall this in the few conversation he had had with his grandfather and his aunt since he had been told he was being married off. “What.”

She rubs her forehead, as if she has a headache. “You were... I was not meant to tell you that. Not yet, at least. But you should understand that this isn’t some whim your grandfather is acting on. There is a reason, a very important reason why he is choosing you to marry the boy.”

Aomine wants to know more, wants to ask why there is such a secrecy surrounding the whole matter, but then he sees her face. For the first time in a long while, her cold demeanor is stripped away, replaced by worry and exhaustion and something else which he can’t quite place.

“Fine,” he says grudgingly. He slumps back against the leather upholstery, feeling beaten somehow. “But I still think he’s a dumbass,” he adds sulkily, which results her giving him a sour look as he gets lectured for his attitude and manners again for the rest of the ride home.

****

* * *

“ _Why didn’t you tell me you were getting married_?!”

Aomine winces and holds the phone away from his ear at a safe distance. Even at this range, he can still hear the Momoi squealing in delight through earpiece..

Standing next to him with a basketball held under one arm, Kuroko continues sipping his milkshake with tiny slurps, but he manages to sneak Aomine a sympathetic look.

“Sat-- wait, woman, let me talk--” Aomine tries, but she rolls over his words anyway.

“Have you met her yet? Is she cute? When’s the wedding? Dai-chan! You can’t _not_ keep this from me!”

“ _Damn it, woman, I’m not marrying anyone_ ,” he says exasperatedly, his voice rising before he realizes that he’s not alone.

Next to him, Kuroko stops sipping his drink, and stares up at Aomine with both eyes wide opened, his eyebrows raised.

“Satsuki, I’ll call you back later,” he hangs up before she can utter another word and then hurriedly switches off his phone, just in case.

“Er, Tetsu-” he begins, trying to stall. He hadn’t planned on letting his friends find out about Aomine’s impending marriage. (Not that he could have stopped Satsuki from finding out, considering that she knows _everything_.)

“You’re getting married?” Kuroko asks finally, tilting his head to one side in curiosity.

Aomine grimaces. “It’s... I didn’t have a choice!” he defends himself. “Ojii-san was the one who came up with the crazy idea, and then I had to go and meet the family, and the gu--I mean, _girl_. Is a fucking moron.” He coughs, attempting to cover up his slip.

Kuroko doesn’t fall for it. “Aomine-kun,” he says slowly, “You were going to say ‘guy’, right?”

“What? I wasn’t--” Kuroko fixes him with another bird-like stare and Aomine wavers. “Fine. _Fine, yes,_ I’m marrying a guy. It’s all for convenience and shit, end of story.” Thankfully, he’s known Kuroko’s preference for other boys for a while now, so he knows his friend isn’t going to flip out and turn homophobic at the news.

Kuroko doesn’t even bat an eyelash at his outburst. “Okay... “

Aomine sighs, running his hand through his hair. “Look, don’t tell the others, okay? They’ll never shut up about it.” He’s thinking of how smug Akashi is going to be once he hears the news. Midorima would probably give him some crap about fate and horrorscope, while Murasakibara would only care about the catering. And Kise--

“Guys, wait for me!” a familiar voice calls out, and Aomine turns around. Speak of the devil, it was Kise, who looks like he had ran up the hill after them, his blond hair practically gleaming more than usual under the sun.

“Ah, Kuroko, don’t say a word to that airhead about this, okay? I need some time to sort this out first,” Aomine says. “Kise’s got a pretty big mouth-” But Kuroko is blushing, his cheeks flushed pink and he’s looking almost too happy to see Kise.

Aomine’s not a dumb guy. He pieces it together immediately. “Seriously? You and him? You like him?” he asks incredulously, just as Kise reaches them, catching the last part.

“Who likes who?” Kise asks, and Kuroko manages to shoot Aomine a _look_ that promises the pain of death.

Aomine changes the topic. “You’re late,” he says, noting Kise’s heavy breathing and sweat-soaked shirt. “Oi, did you run a marathon or something?”

“Ahh, sorry! My gig ran late by a few minutes. And then some of the crew wanted autographs,” Kise answers, looking sheepish. “And then I had to run after the train and by then--”

Aomine rolls his eyes. “Okay, enough, we get it. Let’s go then, before someone else takes up the court,” Aomine grabs the ball from Kuroko and shoves it at Kise. “We’ve wasted enough time waiting for you to get here.”

“Ahhh, Aominecchi is so mean,” Kise complains, but there’s a grin on his face as he spins the ball on his finger, chattering away while Kuroko looks at him with a soft expression on his face, while Aomine tries not to gag.

****

* * *

Unfortunately, when they arrive at the park, Aomine catches sight of a tall and familiar boy dribbling a ball across the court.

“Oh, come _on_ ,” he mutters. Kagami turns around to face them as they approach closer, and the sour look on his face matches Aomine’s emotions perfectly.

“Seriously? You again?” Kagami is glaring at Aomine now. “Isn’t there some other place for you to go?”

Aomine raises an eyebrow. “I should be asking _you_ that. This is a public area, anyone can come and play. Even,” he leans closer, tapping the furrowed line in between Kagami’s eyebrows, “annoying punks pretending they’re good at something they’re not.”

“What the fuck? I’ll challenge you again--”

“Your basketball sucks,” Aomine shoots back. “You couldn’t even beat me the other day, what makes you think you can do it again?”

“You’re such a basta -- _oofff_ \--”

Aomine coughs, his breath knocked out of him as Kagami bends over, arm holding onto his side. Standing between them, his eyes narrowed in annoyance, is Kuroko, while Kise looks back and forth from Aomine and Kagami in confusion.

“Stop fighting, please,” Kuroko tells them politely.

“Kuroko, what the hell... you’re supposed to be on my side!” Aomine wheezes out.

“What was that for, geez,” Kagami puffs out. “Where did you even come from?”

“I was standing here the whole time,” Kuroko tells him. “You just didn’t notice me.”

“Dumb, and blind. Great, Kagami, where did they even find you?” Aomine mutters, finally able to stand up, rubbing at the side of his ribs where Kuroko had struck earlier.

“Shut up, Aomine,” Kagami starts, but then Kise cuts him off, turning towards Aomine, his eyes wide.

“Eh, Aominecchi, you know this guy?” he asks.

Fuck, Aomine thinks, just as Kuroko’s eyes widen as realization dawns.

“Aomine-kun, is this the guy you’re supposed to ma-- _mmmphhh_ \-- “ Aomine clamps his hand over Kuroko’s mouth before he can finish that sentence.

“Ok, have the place to yourself, whatever, we’re going,” he tells Kagami as he begins to drag Kuroko away. “Oi, Kise!” he snaps, and Kise follows, looking confused.

They don’t play basketball in the end. Kuroko is too irritated at Aomine, and Kise is lost, and Aomine’s head is cluttered with confusion. They part ways, Kise following Kuroko off to whaever they’re planning on doing - Aomine _really_ doesn’t want to know - and Aomine sulks and heads home

****

* * *

Kise laughs and laughs and refuses to shut up when he finds out..

“It’s not funny,” Aomine protests as Kise stops laughing on the phone momentarily to breathe. “You weren’t supposed to know, you asshole, I thought I told Tetsu to keep his mouth shut.”

“It’s not his fault,” Kise says hurriedly, coming to Kuroko’s defense. “Momoicchi called me a few minutes ago and asked for help in picking out bridesmaid dresses. So I asked her why.”

“Bridesm-- _I’m not the damn bride_ ,” Aomine bellows into the phone. He’s also pissed off at Momoi for spilling the beans.

“Ow, ow, Aominecchi don’t yell in my ear,” Kise complains. “Anyway, I’m not the only one that knows -”

“What.”

“-- I think the others might have found out as well,” Kise continues. Just then, Aomine’s cell phone pings several times and he checks it, to find several text messages from Akashi and Murasakibara and even one from Midorim, all related to the news of him getting married..

Aomine wonders if it’s not too late to consider changing his name and moving away to another country. Probably Australia. he could go to the beach everyday and be a hermit.

“Bastards, all of you,” he grits out, as Kise lets out another laugh at his predicament.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of on hiatus until I can figure out the ending of the plot, sorry everybody.


End file.
